What to See in New York Galleries This Week : Hans-Peter Feldmann, Martha Schwendener, The New York Times

October 14, 2016

“Venus Ingres Standing,” right, and other works assembled by Hans-Peter Feldmann at 303 Gallery.

Last month, I got to see one of the wonders of the art world: Lina Bo Bardi’s exhibition design for the old master collection at the São Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil. In the display of works by Bo Bardi (1914-1992), the paintings are mounted on glass panes fixed to concrete bases rather than hung on the walls, creating a democratic field of pictures rather than a showcase of masterpieces. Bo Bardi’s exhibition design, developed from 1957 to 1968, served as a primary inspiration for Hans-Peter Feldmann’s current show at 303 Gallery.

Here, Mr. Feldmann has brought together several genres of painting — seascapes, portraits and female nudes — either bought at auction or, in the case of an Ingres bather, newly commissioned as a copy, and suspended the canvases by wires from the ceiling. The pleasure is in seeing paintings in gilded frames floating in space, like an analogue version of a Google search, with its multiple images and erratic results, as well as copies of famous paintings nestled alongside lesser-known works.

On the walls are a series of landscape paintings hung together so that their horizons create an unbroken line; a copy of Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” (1538) repainted with bikini suntan lines; and old-master-type portraits of children with red clown noses. Some of the jokes are rimshot one-liners that don’t carry much weight. But over all, the show is sympathetic with Bo Bardi’s radical design, which suggested that pictures are made and remade in the process of displaying them — sometimes with the help of artists who are simultaneously respectful and irreverent of art history.

303 Gallery is committed to making its website accessible to all people, including individuals with disabilities. We are in the process of making sure our website, www.303gallery.com, complies with best practices and standards as defined by Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and Level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user-friendly for all people.

If you would like additional assistance or have accessibility concerns, please contact us at (212) 255-1121 or info@303gallery.com.